Walmart Revamps Its Digital Storefront With New App and Website

Walmart has unveiled redesigned versions of its app and website.

“The closest store to our customers is the one in their pockets, and we’re giving that digital storefront a revamp,” the world’s largest brick-and-mortar retailer said in a Monday (April 3) news release.

According to the release, Walmart’s new homepage offers “a product-focused experience that better mirrors the way our customers love to shop, highlighting the items that matter most to them at any given moment.”

The new homepage includes live video, “rich imagery” and is optimized to better highlight Walmart’s product assortment through things like a new “social-inspired scroll” that lets customers browse the company’s selections the way they would on a social media app.

Walmart is revamping its digital presence amid its ongoing battle with rival Amazon for consumer attention.

“But in this competition to increase sales and win consumers’ loyalty, the key skirmishes might occur in categories where neither have cemented their positions yet,” PYMNTS wrote recently.

Amazon has an obvious edge in electronics, capturing 37% of consumer spending, while Walmart continues to rule the food and beverage categories, with 18% of consumer spending.

However, PYMNTS noted, more modest categories, such as furniture, health and auto parts could play an important role in the fight.

For example, Walmart has seen its share of furniture sales decline over the last three years, according to PYMNTS’ research, while Amazon has more than doubled its gross sales in furniture and home furnishings during that time.

“The Amazon-Walmart battle will be hotly contested within product categories, services and physical and online stores in 2023,” PYMNTS wrote last week. “As consumers recalibrate their spending amid fears of a recession, the retailer that responds with more customer-focused innovations will be positioned to gain market share.”

Meanwhile, recent PYMNTS research shows that 74% of consumers have cut down on non-essential retail purchases. We’ve also found that 56% of consumers have been shifting their spending to less-costly grocers; 47% have been doing the same for retailers.

“The fallout, at least over the next couple of months, may be that the continued ‘downshift’ by consumers hits most retailers and grocers, to the benefit of the discount stores and the Big Box merchants,” PYMNTS wrote. “The impact may be prolonged, given the data above that show consumers are settling in for years of price increases.”